From Student Athlete to Working Professional with Troy Doris

In today’s episode, Pierre Michiels interviews Troy Doris. Troy Doris is a former Olympic triple jumper for Guyana, Commonwealth Games gold medalist, and current marketing professional and city councilman. In the interview, Troy shares his journey from student-athlete to Olympian, the challenges of transitioning out of professional sports, identifying transferable skills, and framing athletic experience for resumes and interviews. After listening to this episode, we hope you have a better understanding of how athletes can leverage their skills and mindset for career success beyond sports. 

Full episode transcript can be found on the episode page. Below is a general timestamp summary. 

00:00:01 – 00:03:11 | Introduction & Troy’s Background 

Pierre Michiels introduces Troy Doris, highlighting his Olympic achievements and current roles. Troy shares his early life, athletic journey from College of DuPage to the University of Iowa, and competing professionally for nearly a decade. 

00:03:11 – 00:07:02 | Student-Athlete Experience & Discipline 

Troy discusses the unique challenges of balancing academics, athletics, and social life, emphasizing time management, accountability, and how these habits shaped his professional mindset. 

00:07:02 – 00:13:19 | Transition Beyond Athletics 

Troy explains the difficulties of retiring from sport during the pandemic, discovering his interest in marketing, and leveraging sponsorship and content creation experience to build a new career. 

00:13:19 – 00:20:15 | Translating Skills to the Workforce 

Conversation focuses on framing athletic experience for resumes, cover letters, and interviews. Troy shares strategies for highlighting transferable skills like discipline and adaptability rather than just athletic achievements. 

00:20:15 – 00:27:02 | Mindset & Career Readiness 

Troy reflects on remaining coachable, embracing feedback, and applying an athlete’s structured approach to professional growth. Discussion includes why career readiness integration for athletes is essential. 

00:27:02 – End | Final Advice & Closing 

Troy offers advice for athletes: leverage networking, recognize the value of your skills, and prepare early for career transitions. Episode closes with key takeaways and encouragement for listeners. 

Listeners in the College of DuPage community can visit our website. All other listeners are encouraged to view the resources of their local community college, WIOA training programs, or other local support centers.

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Transcript

Pierre: Welcome to the Career Ready Podcast. Learn about resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn, interviewing, and all things you need to be career ready with the Career Service Center at College of DuPage. I'm your host, Pierre Michaels. I am excited to have Troy Doris here with me. You may know his name from the Rio Olympics in 2016, in which he placed 7th in the triple jump, and was the Guyana flag bearer for the closing ceremonies. He later won the gold in the triple jump in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. But before all that, he was a track and field athlete for College of DuPage, then transferred to the University of Iowa. He has worked in the field of marketing, and is also a city councilman for Bolingbrook. Troy, thank you for being here today.

Troy: Thank you for having me.

Pierre: So, as we get started here, can you provide a quick introduction, or as we like to say, your elevator pitch?

Troy: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I grew up here in the southwest suburbs of Bolingbrook, Illinois, before we moved from the south side of Chicago, my mom and 3 boys starting a new life here in the suburbs, so… This has been home for me for quite a long time. You know, I went to Bolingbrook High School, I graduated there, I ran track, followed the footsteps of my brothers, and really set a foundation of my identity in high school, because it was important for me to be involved in something, especially Having two other older brothers that were a source of inspiration, so… That led me to… competing at the College of DuPage and the University of Iowa, where I, I took, first place in the Big Ten Championships, and… Placed in the National Championship Finals. And then that progression just, led me to compete at the professional level. Which I did for about 9 years, and that experience was an experience of a lifetime, of course. I mean, being able to compete in the Olympics, for your… for your mother country, right? I… my… my… my citizenship is both here in the United States and in Guyana. But it's just… no matter who you represent at that level, you're just proud to be there and accomplish something that has truly been bigger than you and has always said is bigger than you, so… it's amazing to kind of check that off the box early in life and try to understand what is next for you, and that's a different challenge, but it's something that all athletes, I think, have to navigate at some point in their life.

Pierre: Well, I'm excited to hear a little bit more of your story and your insight. You know, it's always great to hear of someone that has roots in the same area. You know, I've also always been here in the western suburbs of Chicago. But then you went on, pursuing this athlete career, being able to do it professionally, and then getting to see the world with that. And now, you know, kind of… telling your own story after all that, so I'm excited to dive deeper into this. So with that, can you tell us about your experience as a student athlete, and then turning that into a professional career?

Troy: Yeah, I think the… I think all student athletes can probably agree that it's a very unique experience being a student athlete. 75 to 80% of your time is obviously tied to sport. And then, you know, you have to do the academic portion of school, right? It's the why you're there. And then the social aspect of school, right? It's… it's kind of just… The balance that you're looking for is very hard to balance. As a student athlete, so… it's… it's a unique experience, and I think it teaches you a lot about how you need to structure yourself in the future. You may not see it immediately. But I just remember waking up at 5 AM to get to weights at 6.30, alright, my roommates and I, in the cold winters, having to catch the bus, or… Ride our mopeds to the weight room and just get it done, and then… immediately after that, you know, 7.30, you have a class, and then your day is… is just started, right? You have your breaks throughout, but… You didn't really get to touch the… the feeling of, I'll say… freedom, and not in a negative way, you didn't really get to touch that freedom, but you also didn't get to experience any isolation, because you have such a support system around you, and Your accountability is held to a high standard. So, with every experience you get from that, right, even if it's, again, through the early mornings or the support around you. You start to kind of look for that in your line of work, and you start to look for that in a company that you work for. Even though you know you're gonna pursue those challenges of the monotony or the mundane things that you have to do, like waking up at 5.30, You still kind of seek that out in a professional career, because it's just a… truly a neurological adaptation that you have at this point, and you seek that in a professional career, and I feel like I've always sought that to an extent, right? The social aspect, the grind of it, and then also the support, so… it doesn't, it doesn't leave you when you stop with sport, right? You have to transition that, or I had to have transitioned that into other avenues of what feels right for me when it comes to picking a career.

Pierre: No, I appreciate hearing that, you know, me never really being an athlete, can still tell that athletes put a lot into what they need to, you know, even non-professionals, right? You know, that's how they get professional, is, you know, putting in that commitment, but then to, I really take what you were talking about and saying, this is what I'm doing as a student, as an athlete. And then pulling from that to identify And professionally. You know, shaping you well, and helping you understand those environments and those things that you're gonna be looking for as you enter that professional world.

Troy: Yeah, it… because it… it… it just… it's, like, essentially… it's a personality trait at that point, right? And if you get that taken away from you, you do kind of feel lost in these qualities that you've adapted, whether you like them or not. You do kind of feel lost if you do not have that same… Truly stress response, right, to your day-to-day. And I've experienced not tackling that approach as well, and I feel like that is when personally, that's when I'm the most inefficient, or I'm pretty down or hard on myself in ways that I shouldn't be, is because of that feeling of, I'm not doing enough.

Pierre: So, as, we kind of look at your story, and spending that time as an athlete, and then being able to play professionally, or perform professionally, when did you start thinking about life beyond the career of an athlete, and how did you start making that transition?

Troy: Yeah, I thought about it when it was too late, honestly. Because, I mean, my situation is what was unique, but I think a lot of athletes fall into the same… To the same, situation when it's time to transition out of sport, because… I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I kind of had to get pushed out of sport because of the pandemic. I was in route to, again, qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, and the pandemic. postpone those Olympic Games, and… With that postponement, obviously, a lot of other facilities were closed, and… The availability for my coach to be available wasn't the same, And I think the overall shock really just kind of put me in a different place to understand that I have to make a decision. And I told myself, I was like, after Tokyo, I want to retire. I want to just start the next phase of my life. So I did decide a bit early in 2021 that I was going to retire, but that's when, you know, you're faced with that brick wall of, like, what do I do next? I was kind of forced to find out what I had to do next. So, it didn't come easy. I mean, it… I'd never tell anyone the transition was easy. I think it was… maybe, mentally, the most difficult thing I had to deal with. Because it wasn't… Me stopping on my terms. It was just… the luck of the situation that we were in, right? And, I did take it upon myself to… educate myself on what it is that I liked. Not what I wanted to do, but what do I like? And… Being an athlete, I was able to work with brands, I had sponsorships, so I understood the workforce in that capacity. So I wanted to take something away from this that was pretty tangible, and it was sales and marketing. I was being marketed as an athlete. I had to negotiate my own contracts. When I was an athlete, I was working for boutique gyms in the area, just to, like, kind of… play around with content creation, and because I was creating content for myself, and that obviously developed into another skill of doing social media, newsletters, email campaigns for these boutique gyms in the areas. So I took what I learned, I mean, I bought courses, I shadowed people, I did everything that I could to learn sales and marketing. And that's essentially when it turned into a career for me, something that, again, I was able to grab and transition out of sport, so… it really took that back-against-the-wall situation to find out what I had to do next, but I had to think quick and think creatively as to what it is that I enjoyed from sport, because again, going back to, you know, when we talked about what routine did I establish, it's the same thing. What did you even like about, the sport outside of the actual competition? And being able to connect with brands and global brands and work with them was something that I did enjoy. So I did want to kind of take that element of sport to then apply that to the workforce.

Pierre: Well, I'm glad that you were able to find something that you enjoy, and you saw how you could be applying that, in a professional path here. So then, I want to dive a little bit deeper into making that transition, you know, because I heard you you know, talking about the passion, and identifying these transferable skills, these things that you were doing as an athlete, and like, okay, you know, how can I be applying this to, what I'm pursuing? But let's just, again, get a little bit more specific here. How did you translate that? How did you present that on a resume, on a cover letter? Was that easy? You know, what was that approach for you?

Troy: Yeah, initially, I mean, and I'm still learning this through and through, right? Initially. I didn't… I had to highlight that when I didn't have experience, because I had to let employers know that I don't have experience, but these are the skills that I have. So, I mean, truly, if you don't have experience, lead with what skills you have and what you're good at. And I think that was important for me to manage, because truly, an employer is taking a chance on me, right? It's like, why should we hire you? And being able to… translate that into a resume or a cover letter. It has to be very strategic, and you have to be smart about it, because organizations, they'll applaud you for your accomplishments, right? But what do your accomplishments mean to the organization? Like, what does your accomplishment mean to the bottom line of this organization? And that's what you have to prove, right? It doesn't matter if you've gotten a gold medal at the Olympics or, like, myself, placed 7th. It's what do your skills… What do your skills mean to this organization? So, I, again, like I said, I learned that and I'm still learning that through and through, right? And I think, that's something that… Most athletes should try to approach. To truly avoid that feeling of, if you are gonna get into the workforce. don't feel lost with, experience. Always lead with skills, and I kind of learned that a little bit later, but lead with the skills that you have, and then navigate, navigate how you're going to set up your resume and cover letter in that regard.

Pierre: I think that's great, right? Leading with the skills you have, leading with those abilities that you've demonstrated, that you've developed as an athlete, that that employer is going to be valuing, that they're going to want within the field, right? You know. you know, kind of picking on you a little bit here, right? You know, no employer's gonna say, oh, I want someone that can jump really far, right? But the discipline to make you do that, right, to train for that, the skills you developed to make that possible. Is something that they're gonna value.

Troy: Right?

Pierre: So I just want to add something else in there, being, in this Career Services Chair. the experience, right? You know, you say you didn't have experience, and I just want to clarify that, right? Because I think what you mean is you didn't have experience in marketing, but that's what you wanted to get into. But you did have plenty of experience, right? It was just figuring out a way to translate that, to showcase those transferable skills, those skill sets that make a connection, and that's something that I just want to make sure Our listeners are realizing is that the experience as an athlete is great experience, but it's how do you translate that experience to match up to the next experience?

Troy: Absolutely, because I think a lot of the times… well, most of the time, right, and even friends that I have that are in similar situations, or were in similar situations, we kind of, we kind of truly just self-deprecate, right? Because we feel like that there's this skill that we have from being an athlete, and it's a… it's an amazing skill, right? But you only think that skill is only valuable in this world. And I think that's a mindset that a lot of athletes need to let go, is that… your skills as an athlete aren't only valuable, like, discipline isn't only valuable as an athlete, or, you know, working on your nutrition, or working on… through your workouts. You can transfer that into a career, but getting out of the one-dimensional headspace of, like, well, this only works over here. it's just not true. There's… there's more layers to what you develop as an athlete that you can transition in. Again, like I said, I'm still learning that. I'm having to force myself to put myself in those positions so I understand that that is a reality.

Pierre: Yeah. So, as you're learning how to do this, and pushing yourself to get better at it, we just talked about the resume and cover letter, but how about the interview? Do you find that an easier place to present this information? How do you approach those conversations?

Troy: Yeah, because it does come up in interviews. I don't think I've ever had an interview where it didn't come up. But I have had interviews where it was valued more than the next interview. And I think that's important to kind of, you have to identify why it's in… why it is important to an employer, because if it's just an exciting talking point, then that's great. I mean, but if it's an… if it's an exciting talking point and it goes nowhere. It doesn't mean anything, but if it's a talking point that kind of expands on literally what we're talking about in this conversation, then that's where you need to be prepared to present yourself with why your athletic career Should come up during this interview. I mean, I've had multiple interviews from 2021 till now, to where… my athletic experience has came up, but it didn't do me any favors throughout the interview, right? It was just so great to meet you, so great to interview an Olympian, right? I'll get through maybe a round of interviews, and then it wouldn't matter because it came down To the actual experience of what that person was looking for. So… I… have learned, and again, I think it's important to… to really identify within, is that I've learned that at some point. In your career, you have to be… become an authority of something. And… That knowledge that you have of that something, you need to be able to apply it through… through the work or the service that you're gonna provide. Because, again, it's good that I have these skills, and it's good that they acknowledge that I was an athlete or I was an Olympian. But it only goes so far It only goes as far as you let it go, because… it's not… it's not… it doesn't… it's not going to always be the catalyst to the next step in your career. It's just, something that you have to make sure that if that's how you want to display yourself as an athlete or an Olympian. and you're seeking jobs that value that more, then that's the lane, right? That's the authority that you have to become if people are seeking athletes. And that's why I've eventually ended up working in sports marketing now. It's because it just translates naturally to what I… to who I am and what I want to do.

Pierre: And so, just kind of sticking on this point for a moment with the interview, and, like, sometimes… they just bring it up, they think it's cool that they're interviewing Olympian. And then other times. they may see those transferable pieces, components, so then it's not just, oh, interviewing an Olympian, but, you know, someone with these skill sets. And I know you keep saying you're still learning to go through this process, but when you start realizing that, okay. they're not finding this added value of this athletic, experience. Do you then try to… Still talk about the athletic experience, because that's what they're asking about or bringing up, but then present it more so from that skills perspective, and not just the performance perspective.

Troy: Absolutely. Yeah, I think… I think you have to truly frame it and beat it until it's, like, worn its… it's ran its course, right? I don't think that there's any… because at the end of the day, right, if there's an athlete in my situation that decided to… whether you're a baseball player, soccer player, and you decided to maybe play overseas for a few years, and you're trying to get into the workforce, that's all you have at the moment, right? You don't want to… Fabricate anything or lie to an employer about what you've done, because you'll expose yourself eventually, right? So that there's… there's going to be that opportunity that does value that and that does accept it. But also make sure that That value is tied to the… the role that you're applying for, right? It has to make… it has to make sense. It's an equation that has to make sense. And I think the most important thing is that… You cannot forget to merge the two. You can't leave them separate, because I was a professional athlete, I was a track and field athlete, I was an Olympian, and I want to work in marketing, are two separate two separate entities in themselves, but the way I was able to frame it, it made sense. And I think that's… that's the important part of understanding If there's a direction you want to take, make sure that you, again, become that authority and frame yourself to be that… that leader in this lane that you've created for yourself.

Pierre: No, I think that's great, right? It's, you know, being able to… take your background, frame it, and really make that the showcase to stand out. So now that you've gone through that transition, right, you've presented yourself to multiple employers, found, different opportunities here, let's just talk about that experience as an athlete, who you developed to be, and now being in the career, is there some kind of, like, athletic discipline or mindset that you just naturally developed through those years that is now helping you in this post-athletic career?

Troy: Yeah, I think, for the majority of my time in the workforce. I've remained very coachable, right? I just didn't get here and then… just became a know-it-all, essentially, right? Like, I haven't done that at all in my career, right? So, I say that to say you have to keep learning. Make sure that, you know, connecting with your colleagues and learning from them is essential, because… they've been… they've been there before, and they've been places where I haven't been, and… Kind of humbling yourself, or… Given yourself the grace to start from zero. will take you very far, and I think it's taken me very far, because I'm… willing to learn, and I have this willingness to adjust to a new level of comfort that I haven't experienced. And it is scary, because being an athlete. For, you know, being a professional athlete for almost 10 years, and then getting into the workforce, you don't understand fully the dynamics of what failure looks like, or what success looks like. So… I say to just kind of avoid any self-sabotage, right? Because athletes can also do that to their careers. To avoid any self-sabotage is just really staying humble and making sure that you want to learn, right? It's remaining coachable. And making sure that you are open to feedback, and… And being able to build yourself, and eventually building your brand within the workforce.

Pierre: I, really appreciate hearing that, Gary, because when I think of the skill sets, and, like, I just assumed, talking about this, like, you were gonna be talking about, like, the time management, the rigor, and determination, and, you know, you need those for the job. which I'm sure you could say do apply, but, you know, that whole perspective of being coachable. I was just recently talking to some employers, and it came up from, you know, their end of a lot of newer employees, the people they're hiring, don't like receiving that feedback. You know, they don't like, you know, hearing about these areas that they need to approve to perform better on the job. But… you know, once you said that, I was like, that's what an athlete is always doing, right? Your coach is always giving you feedback and challenging you and saying, okay, that was good, but try it this way, do it this way, and, you know, always, you know, trying to polish you up to help you perform better, so you're constantly receiving feedback. So then, when you're on that job, and that performance review is coming through, and they say, hey, you know, you're great over here, but this spot, you need to work on it. I think a student or athlete, you know, that are now transitioning into that professional workforce. Like, oh, okay, you know, it's just kind of part of who you are, so I really appreciate hearing that perspective.

Troy: Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, I think it's important to always… because I even try to frame the way that I work, or schedules, how I work. similar to, like, an Olympic cycle, right? It's… you have to just kind of take that 4 years, and then even if you just break down year by year, without getting super granular in it, the outcome is that you just don't want to have any surprises at the end of that year. Like, I've always understood why I didn't do well at a competition. that… that was… it was never a shock to me if I did good or if I didn't do good at a competition. I… I knew leading up to the competition why the results were the way they were. And I want to do the same with work, right? It's like, I don't want their… you mentioned a good point, right? It's like, you'll have a performance review. there shouldn't be a surprise at the performance review, right? Like, every… every… Every intentional meeting that… that is, is… Is, is created towards progress, or a check-in, or your function and your role. There shouldn't be a surprise when you have those meetings, or when you're confronted with any of those results.

Pierre: So, as we get closer to the end here, what do you wish you had known about career readiness while you were still in college, or as you were preparing yourself As that athlete before making that transition to the workforce here.

Troy: I would say, I think I… Yeah, it's not that what I would want to know more, I think it's just… I've always looked… looking back, I'm always wishing… I wish there was more integration. Like, required integration. With career readiness, career expectations with athletes, because… as I mentioned earlier, it's like, I didn't realize until it was too late what I wanted to do with myself. And that's not every athlete. Some athletes do have it figured out, but for the majority of athletes, it's always that… you know, you're faced with that wall of, like, when the… when you pull the curtain of your career being done, there's literally just a brick wall right in front of you, right? There's no… there's no, like. you know, in those fantasy movies, like, there's a bridge, like, there's no Narnia, right?

Pierre: Yeah.

Troy: Yeah.

Pierre: No shiny path, guiding, And say, okay, here's your next area.

Troy: Right, unless you created that for yourself, right? Then that's great, but when you're so hyper-focused on your goals as an athlete, you kind of don't really see that vision yet, so… I really do wish that the integration was there, and even at the professional level, right? I think USATF is doing a better job with, getting athletes education to prepare them to transition out of sport, and that's amazing, right? I think it's setting athletes up for success, because it's… again, it goes into all of this. It's very talented people, but they just don't know where to put their talent, and it's very scary when you… know your potential, and you're just boiling with, I want to do, I want to do, but I don't know what to do. It is a recipe for disaster when it comes to somebody, especially a high-level athlete that's just so ambitious. you know, you can… it's like shaking that pop can, they're just gonna explode, and then, you know, they fizzle out, and then don't ever find what it is that they want to do, so… integration, I think, is key. It truly is, and I think the more integration, the better, because Athletes might not think about it in the moment, but as long as it's front and center, and they're at least perceiving it, I think it'll do a lot more A lot more, justice than it has in the past.

Pierre: Yeah, and I think, you know, taking the time to be aware of those options. It is extremely important, because regardless of how good of an athlete you are, like… I don't… it's probably not even 1%, right? It's less than 1%, where they never have to leave their sport, right? You know, there may be some that, okay, great athlete, then they go into coaching, they go into broadcasting, something, but even at that, right, they're entering a new… use of their skills, their abilities. They had to be aware of that path.

Troy: And again, that's just a small, small percentage. So to just…

Pierre: be creating that awareness, because maybe it's directly after college you're going, down that path, or, you know, 10 years after being an Olympic athlete and, you know, doing those things. At some point, it's gonna happen. creating that awareness, as you were saying, I think, is important, no matter what your… professional… Athletic aspirations are. It's gonna eventually hit that wall, as you were saying.

Troy: Absolutely.

Pierre: Alright, so, last question here. Is there anything else you want to share with our listeners?

Troy: Mmm. Yeah, I would say for athletes, right, is to… Really try not to make it… Harder than it needs to be. There's… I mean, even at, like, we've talked about in this conversation, right, there's… There's plenty of resources, there's plenty of people, there's the power of networking. People… and this is not, you know, a privilege, but people want to work with athletes. It's just, we just have to show them why they should work. with athletes. And I think… just through… Years of… of dedication through… Being an athlete, and getting to elite levels. Don't take those skills for granted. Realize that those skills are valuable, and you are valuable. But it's all about framing why you're valuable, and truly understanding where your value lies. I… you know, I wish that was… I wish that would have been something that I've known earlier. Whether I listen to it or not, right? I wish I've known that earlier. And, I wish that was more of a subconscious thought than… A conscious thought with, now, pressure and action needed to be taken. So, preparing yourself for that is just… is just key, and knowing that, again, the value that you have, it carries a lot of weight. But really prepare yourself for… The reality of the transition, no matter what the transition is, even if it's to more success. Prepare yourself for that transition out.

Pierre: Well, thank you so much for that and everything else. I really do appreciate you taking the time to tell your story and sharing these insights with our listeners.

Troy: Yeah, thank you, Pierre, I appreciate it, and yeah, any time I could, share my experience, I'm glad to, and so I appreciate the time.

Pierre: Alright, well, well, thank you, and thank you to all our listeners. For joining us here with the podcast. There was no listener question in today's episode, but if you have a question you want to hear answered in a future episode, you could submit it to careerpodcast@cod.edu. We hope you join us for a future episode on more career-ready content.